Good AGM battery brand & source

By Nessism: Martin, a SERIES type R/R is vastly superior to a shunting R/R because they protect your stator. There is tons of info all over the web about this subject....

Thanks. I've already read up on the subject, including changing out the electrical connectors n stuff, but I have my own reasons for not making the change.

daveo wrote: Is the SH775 R/R a suitable upgrade for use with a Lithium Ion battery?

I suspect it's fine but I'm certainly no charging system expert. Does anyone know how many amps flow to the battery when the system is charging at 14.5 volts?

LI batteries can charged at an accelerated rate, just look at some of the cell phone charging systems these days, so I imagine they could tolerate an even faster charge than you might normally see. Of course this is dependant on keeping the battery temp down, but motorcycles don't have systems to monitor and control that aspect.

I fitted a motobatt in my project bike . It lasted less than 2 months,shorted out and I dont want to think about what might have happened if I hadnt caught it in time. Any hotter and I would have needed gloves to pull it out.The wiring on the bike checked out so I can only imagine that the battery was from a bad batch. Ill be replacing it with a normal old school battery.
Saying that, Ive had a motobatt in my 600 bandit for the last 2 or 3 years,never a problem..
Thats my tuppence worth.

Nessism wrote: If your bike uses a 3 phase conventional charging system then upgrading the R/R to a SH775 is money well spent. They protect your stator from shunted current overheat damage. You can get a good used unit from ebay for less than $40 shipped. One of the best upgrades you can make.

Hi Nessim,
Any links?

Good Ridin'
slmjim & Z1BEBE

Search eebbaayy for SH775 voltage regulator or polaris rzr regulator et al (late models). A new one might have a model application list for expanding your search. beware new, as some of them are probably made in china, especially inexpensive units.

When installing the SH775, you'll need to get connectors for it. they're usually a waterproof type. There are mosfet FH reg-recs that are very similar in appearance to the SH775 & I believe they use the same connectors.

New part numbers from one of Nessism's replies --- the pricing may be outdated:
Polaris part No.4012941 REGULATOR-3PH,35A,SERIES,105C - old price = $73.94 -->> current retail = $179.99 (edited)
Triumph part No.T2500676 LINK LEAD, REGULATOR - old price = $9.46

Ebay search for "polaris RZR regulator" is a great way to find units. Just be aware, there are Chinese counterfeit units in the supply channel now so don't buy any NEW units unless you can confirm they are true Shindengen SH775 units. Real units have "SH775" printed on the top edge.

A year or so ago you could purchase a new SH775 from a Polaris dealership for about $75. Due to huge popularity these days though the price has shot up to the ridiculous level referenced by martin. Shindengen is a hugely reputable company, the same that made most R/R's installed by the OEM's for the last 3+ decades, and finding and installing a good used unit is a safe bet. Just be sure to confirm with the seller that it has "SH775" printed on the top and to assure you get a DOA gurantee. Units can be found for $40 shipped or less making them a nobrainer in my opinion.

slmjim+Z1BEBE wrote:

Nessism wrote: If your bike uses a 3 phase conventional charging system then upgrading the R/R to a SH775 is money well spent. They protect your stator from shunted current overheat damage. You can get a good used unit from ebay for less than $40 shipped. One of the best upgrades you can make.

Hi Nessim,
Any links?

Good Ridin'
slmjim & Z1BEBE

Try google searching "motorcycle series regulator" and start reading. In a nutshell, a Series R/R eliminates over charge current return back to the stator which can cause overheat damage to the stator. Triumph offered a field repair kit that included a SH775 and that jumper harness for bikes that keep burning out their stators.

One of the ironies of this subject is that a charging system that cranks out lots of watts would typically be viewed as a good thing. Problem comes in though in that any excess power created by the charging system that doesn't get consumed by the bike gets shunted back to the stator where it generates heat. A weak stator actually helps protect itself. Kawasaki KZ bikes have relatively weak stators compared to some other bikes but that actually is a GOOD thing, because KZ's tend to have better stator life than bikes like the Suzuki GS's. If anyone needs a new stator be sure to NEVER buy a stator that claims to boost charging system capacity over stock. Many of the Chinese stator are made this way. While on the surface that may seem good, in reality it's not.

Well, after using nothing but Scorpion AGM batteries for the last decade or so, and being impressed by them, I finally had one go belly-up in less than 2 years. I had been getting 5 to 7 years out of them on several bikes, and friend's bikes as well. But this recent one let me down.

So Martin's experience may not be a fluke. It may indicate a change in their manufacturing or sourcing. For $70, they should last more than 2 seasons.

The battery has very few miles on it, but was well maintained with regular trickle charging and always brought inside when the temps get near freezing. When I go to hit the start, the gauge lights and tail lights go completely out (headlights are switched off) and do not come back on until I put a charger on the battery and try again. Then it repeats. I suspect the battery has a short because I can't even bump start it. The lights flicker on and off as the bike sputters, but the motor stalls with all lights going dark.

I swapped in another battery and the bike starts right up and runs fine.

I didn't have time to put a meter on it since I was on my way to Toys for Tots.

So I may be in a search for another AGM source, or dare I say Lithium?

I was thinking they've probably cut mfg costs to the bare bones.
When first hearing about the Scorpion AGM, the original pricing was very good, around $55T or so shipped.
But then the price had gone up to about $75T by the time I got one. so it was rather disappointing at that price.

For a replacement, I ended up getting another Scorpion AGM. Yuasa doesn't seem to make an agm for my bike & without putting in very much effort, I couldn't find anything reasonably priced. I didn't want another wet cell battery & the pricing on those wasn't much better than the scorpion which was back down to $55T.

Batterystuff sometimes has sales, so that can make a big difference.

Right now I'm just going to swap that one good battery between two bikes as needed, with the season basically over.

I'll try to update this thread if anything develops in the future.